Housing Markets Move Toward Buyers—but 3 Cities Buck the Trend
While the national housing market continues to gradually move toward more buyer-friendly conditions this summer, three Southern metros are surprisingly bucking this trend.
Augusta, GA, Greenville, SC, and Jacksonville, FL—all previously classified as buyer’s markets in the Realtor.com® 2026 Q2 Market Clock report—have since shifted into balanced territory, according to an August data release.
“This means they’ve tightened ever so slightly, moving counterclockwise and a bit less buyer-friendly than before,” explains Realtor.com senior economist Jake Krimmel.
First introduced in April, the Market Clock diagnostic tool tracks market conditions in 100 of the nation’s largest metros based on key metrics such as months of supply, time on the market, price fluctuations, and list-to-sale ratio.
The 100 metros are placed on a 12-hour clockface from a peak seller’s market at 12 o’clock to a peak buyer’s market at 6 o’clock to indicate where each market currently stands and where it is likely headed—loosening or tightening.
The clock and the accompanying quarterly reports offer consumers a snapshot of how their local housing market is doing compared to regional and national trends.
A balanced national market
The national Market Clock continues to sit at 3 o’clock, signaling a balanced environment in which buyers and sellers operate on a roughly level playing field. However, a look at the regional data reveals significant underlying fragmentation.
According to the latest Market Clock data, 16 of 100 metros are currently in the buyer’s market column, down from 19 in April following the migration of Augusta, Greenville, and Jacksonville into balanced territory.
The tally of true seller’s markets rose from 25 to 26, while balanced markets climbed from 55 to 57.
“The general direction of travel is still a market that is rebalancing from strong sellers’ positions a few years ago to one that’s more buyer-friendly,” says Krimmel. “So broadly, the housing market and the vast majority of metros and every region still has more buyer-friendly momentum than seller-friendly momentum.”
Markets moving the other way
This broader backdrop is why the trio of Southern markets suddenly moving counterclockwise, from 5 o’clock (early buyer’s market) to 4 o’clock (late balanced market) raises questions about the localized tug-of-war between buyers and sellers.
Krimmel notes that while both Augusta and Greenville experienced year-over-year gains in active listings this spring and summer, they also saw solid activity in sales and contract signings that shifted conditions toward equilibrium.
“The markets were buyer’s markets, so some more buyers showed up, and now they’re a little more balanced than in the previous months,” explains the economist.
Brian Hurry, an agent with the Hurry Home Team at Coldwell Banker Caine, argues that Greenville’s shift toward a balanced market is driven by resilient buyer demand and strategic supply control. Increased buyer activity brought more balance, while homebuilders seeking to prevent oversupply slowed new construction, which makes up roughly 40% of all active listings.
“They’ve been more intentional with what they’re building, how much they’re building, what they’re releasing,” Hurry tells Realtor.com. “They don’t want to overbuild the inventory.”
Hurry says Greenville continues to attract a healthy mix of out-of-market buyers pursuing quality of life and low cost of living, job transferees, retirees, and grandparents relocating to be near family.
Buyer leverage, however, varies widely depending on what they want: Shoppers seeking typical suburban homes will find ample options, but those eyeing walkable areas near downtown, or specific school districts, will face a much more limited inventory.
For sellers navigating this balanced climate, outcomes often hinge on their level of motivation and realistic pricing.
“We do see some people trying to get big money, and they come on and off the market, and they just don’t do well,” notes the agent.
Looking ahead, Hurry does not expect drastic swings in the local market.
“What I’m seeing and predicting is that it stays more in the middle balanced,” he adds. “I really do not foresee sellers moving into the power position they had in the past.”
Shrinking inventory, flat sales
In Jacksonville, a different mechanism is at play. The coastal Sun Belt hub has seen its active listing count shrink on an annual basis every month since December 2025. Additionally, new listings in the metro were down year over year throughout the spring as sellers retreated.
“The Jacksonville story is more about a buyer-friendly market causing sellers to pull back,” says Krimmel. “The result is slightly more balance in terms of leverage, but still a market that has more buyer-friendly momentum when we look at the bigger-picture trends.”
Kurt Bogart, a real estate broker associate with Endless Summer Realty, agrees with that assessment of Jacksonville’s housing market, describing it as “neutral, slightly on the buyer side.”
“Our prices here have been pretty flat since November of 2024,” Bogart tells Realtor.com. “So like what I’m telling my customers now, it’s a great time to buy. If you want to sell, wait a year.”
Bogart points out that there was a significant surge in sales in January 2026, when mortgage rates briefly dipped below 6%, but transactions stalled as financing costs started climbing again in February.
“What we’re seeing is a lot of people are taking their houses off the market ‘cause they’re not selling,” he says.
According to the broker, this is true for all types of inventory, but luxury home sales have been hit the hardest.
What’s in store for the fall?
As the housing market approaches fall, when buyers typically show renewed interest in home shopping following the distractions of the summer, Krimmel highlights two critical metrics to watch:
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Will buyers continue to show up, or have the national economic headwinds like inflation and the highest mortgage rates of 2026 finally taken their toll on demand? If demand drops, that means remaining buyers will gain leverage.
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Will delistings rise as they did last year? So far, delistings in June and July were below last year’s pace. However, if more sellers call it quits, that takes away buyer leverage and is a rebalancing force.
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